Eyes Wide Open
by fringeperson
Summary: "He's rude, he's crude, and he says he hates me... but, if he can help me collect all the jewel shards, then that's all that matters." Such was Kagome's opinion of InuYasha shortly after meeting him, and familiarity bred contempt. On top of that, Kagome is a modern girl, and refuses to just sit back and do as she's told. Oneshot, complete, don't own.


When she'd come back home after reclaiming the jewel shard from Yura Of The Hair, and finally gotten a chance to explain to her family _all_ of what had happened since she fell down the well the morning of her birthday (was it really just a couple of days ago?) her grandfather had _insisted_ that she had a _duty_ to collect the shards of the jewel and make it whole once more. After all, it had been in _her body_, and it had been _her mistake_ that had shattered it and scattered it through a time period _before_ it had meant to re-surface (hence it being in _her body_ in the _modern era_).

Kagome's shoulders had slumped a little, but she'd kind of figured that out herself already. She was going to have to invest in some jeans and some good hiking boots at some point, because really, she _only_ owned skirts and _cute_ shoes. Not really suited to this sort of activity. For now though... Well, she wasn't going to wear her school uniform all the time, that was for sure.

"Kagome, take this too," her mother insisted, holding out a first-aid kit when Kagome was just about out the door.

"Kaa-san," Kagome whined a little. "I've got too much _already_!"

"What about your friend with the cute ears?" she pressed. "Didn't you say he got hurt in the shoulder?" she said, just a little teasingly.

"Two out of three, Kaa-san," Kagome answered flatly, even as she sighed and reached for the first-aid kit. "Cute ears – yes; hurt in the shoulder – yes; friend? Oh _heck_ no. He tried to kill me! Which he _still_ hasn't _apologised_ for... he _constantly_ insults me, and then he came barging in _here_ to drag me into a _deadly_ situation with the expectation that I'd be able to handle myself because the person he thinks I'm the _reincarnation_ _of_ could!"

Her mother winced. "You make a point," she answered sadly. "Oh well, I guess I _can't_ look forward to grandchildren with cute ears like his."

Kagome raised an eyebrow at her mother incredulously. "Seriously?" she asked. "You met him for five seconds and decided, based on his _ears_, that he's a good match? He's rude, he's crude, and the _only_ reason I'm having _anything_ to do with him is to reassemble the jewel like Grandpa told me I had to, and if I could do it without him, I _would_."

Her mother only smiled sheepishly back. "Sorry dear," she apologised.

Kagome shook her head, kissed her mother's cheek, and headed to the well-house. Oh it was going to be _fun_ dragging her bike along _with_ her. Particularly the part where she had to force it _up_ and _out_ of the well again. _Lots_ of fun.

~oOo~

"First-aid treatment?" InuYasha scoffed from where he was lazing up in a tree. "I don't need it. Go away!"

Part of Kagome wanted to object, that he _did_ – she'd _been there_ when he'd been stabbed after all – but if he was going to be pigheaded and mulish about the whole thing, who was she to object to spending _less time_ in his presence?

"Suit yourself," Kagome answered with a shrug, and turned her bike to head back to the village. She'd check in with Kaede instead, maybe get a few lessons on this 'priestess' gig she'd accidentally landed herself in by having spiritual powers.

It was a full day of helping out around the village, learning about priestess duties as she went. It wasn't too bad actually. A lot of the stuff that she'd learned from her grandfather so that she could take over the family shrine some day was actually fairly relevant, scary as it was to realise. There was the issue of learning how to _shoot_ still though, and Kagome dedicated herself to that task from the moment Kaede released her from helping around the village until she was called back for dinner in the evening.

By which time InuYasha had returned to Kaede's hut as well. Along with a _flea_ demon called Myoga, an old vassal of his father's who had come to InuYasha because 'someone' was seeking the tomb of said late, great demon. Not that InuYasha cared.

Taking a guess, Kagome asked about InuYasha's mother.

"She was a beauty beyond compare!" Myoga praised willingly, but didn't get much further before InuYasha's heel came down on him, hard.

"That was _rude_, InuYasha," Kagome scolded.

"Just drop it, okay?" InuYasha demanded as he headed for the door. "She died a long time ago."

Kagome sat back. "So he never knew his father and was a momma's boy before she died," she stated, mostly to herself. "Alright Myoga," she said more firmly. "You don't fool me. Someone shows up looking for the tomb you're supposed to be guarding and you hurry to warn _InuYasha_, since the remains aren't _in_ the tomb any more. What _aren't_ you telling?"

Myoga gulped nervously.

"I will _let_ you drink some of my blood if you tell the _whole_ truth," Kagome offered.

"Kagome!" Kaede breathed in shock, her one eye wide. "Are ye sure that is wise, child?"

"Knowledge is power," Kagome answered the elder priestess with a shrug. "I don't like InuYasha, at all, and the feeling is mutual. I _did_ just spend the day helping put this village back together though. I'd rather not see it torn down again so soon. So," she said, turning back to Myoga. "What do you say?"

"The remains are hidden within a black pearl that I placed in Master InuYasha's right eye when he was but a day old, and are being sought by his elder brother Lord Sesshoumaru, a full demon sired on a powerful demoness who, unlike Master InuYasha's father _or_ mother, still lives. He is seeking a sword forged from a fang of his father that was left to Master InuYasha, though Lord Sesshoumaru possesses the inheritance left to him already," Myoga said quickly.

Kagome smirked. "Will this Lord Sesshoumaru cause any destruction to the village?" she asked.

Myoga shook his head. "It is highly unlikely," he answered. "Unless the people of the village obstruct him in any way. He will simply see them as beneath him and not worth the time it would take to kill them."

"One last question and then you're free to latch on," Kagome said.

Myoga nodded eagerly.

"If you were the vassal of his father, why, when he passed, did you not then become advisor to the _eldest_ son?" Kagome asked.

Myoga flinched. "Lord Sesshoumaru terrifies me," he admitted. "And my Lord bid me to watch over his _younger_ son, as he would not live to do so himself."

Kagome sighed, but nodded in acceptance. "Alright," she allowed. "My veins are yours for the draining for the next couple of minutes."

Myoga eagerly hopped up to latch on to a spot just above the collar of Kagome's top, well hidden by her hair.

For her part, Kagome stood, grabbed a handful of odufas and the bow she still wasn't all that great at using (though she'd come along _really_ well for just one afternoon of learning), and left to find InuYasha.

~oOo~

"A mortal," Sesshoumaru said lowly, somewhere between a hiss and a growl as his golden eyes focused on Kagome, even before she stepped out of the shadows. Still, he was clearly heard in the stillness of the night.

"Greetings, Lord Sesshoumaru," she said politely as she finally stepped out of the shadows and into what light the full moon could offer. "I apologise if I am offending your senses."

"Others would be shamed," Sesshoumaru said, returning his attention to InuYasha. "And I would have thought you'd had _enough_ of these human _creatures_. Or is it a taste from Father?" he asked darkly.

InuYasha growled. "That's not all, is it?" he yelled back, not caring that he didn't _need_ to be so loud. "You couldn't have come all this way just to tell me _that_."

"Be not a fool," Sesshoumaru answered. "I have no such time to waste. The tomb of our father. Where must I seek it?"

"Our father's _tomb_? Why ask me?" InuYasha yelled back incredulously.

"Seeing, but never seen. Protected, but never known to its protector. No other clues are known," Sesshoumaru stated calmly.

"I got _no_ idea what you're talkin' 'bout!" InuYasha snapped back. "And even if I _did_, there's no way I'd tell _you_," he finished, pointing rudely.

"I see," Sesshoumaru said softly. "Then I have no other choice than to let your mother's suffering convince you."

"I thought she was dead," Kagome murmured to Myoga, even as InuYasha objected loudly that he wouldn't be fooled – that his mother _had_ died years ago.

The flea coughed nervously. "The sword bequeathed to Lord Sesshoumaru by his father is capable of _raising_ the dead and returning them to life, as though they had never passed away. As well as killing those things which have the task to ferry souls from the world of the living to the world of the dead, it can slay only the _un_dead. Likely why Lord Sesshoumaru is so unsatisfied with the weapon. The young Lord Sesshoumaru was more interested in _conquest_ than _compassion_, such as is needed to truly wield the Tenseiga," Myoga explained, even as Jaken bragged that (if you are Lord Sesshoumaru) bringing back souls of the dead was a _simple_ thing. Apparently not to much a stretch of the truth.

Even the woman called out that she _was_ InuYasha's mother, back from the dead.

InuYasha was apparently convinced, as he attacked shortly thereafter to rescue her.

"However, the Tenseiga can only resurrect a soul _once_, and Master InuYasha's mother _was_ so revived the night of Master InuYasha's _birth_," Myoga continued.

Kagome only _just_ heard him over InuYasha's yelling as he attacked, and only hummed in acknowledgement as she watched the scene unfold. It ended in a flash of light as InuYasha ran to protect the woman posing as his mother... and they vanished.

Kagome applauded softly, the action and sound catching Sesshoumaru's attention.

"You seem to be unaffected by his disappearance," he noted, almost absently, to her.

Kagome shrugged. "InuYasha is an idiot," she said. "Why should I care what becomes of an idiot?"

"Lady Kagome!" Myoga objected, shocked, from her shoulder.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. "Myoga," he greeted lowly. He'd apparently _heard_ the flea, even from such a distance.

"M-my Lord," Myoga answered nervously.

Kagome could _tell_ he wanted to run away, and sighed. "Myoga, I'll make you another deal," she offered. "A meal off me for every one of _these_ -" she brought out the only shard of the Shikon no Tama that she had, "- that you bring to me or can accurately lead me to. You can eat when the piece is in my hand. Go."

"Of course Lady Kagome! My pleasure!" Myoga answered, and summarily bolted.

"You terrify him," Kagome informed Sesshoumaru neutrally as she returned the shard to its hiding place.

"And what is the item you would have _my father's_ vassal seek for you?" Sesshoumaru demanded coldly.

"Pieces of a jewel, called the Shikon no Tama, that was wrenched from my body, but which since then was shattered," Kagome answered simply. "Lord Sesshoumaru, this one is Higurashi Kagome," she greeted, and bowed politely. "I know where the remains of your father are hidden," she added when she straightened.

He came no closer to her, but she could see him narrow his eyes. "Where?" he demanded. "And how do you know this?"

"I asked Myoga, with a bribe of my blood, to get him talking," Kagome answered as formally as she could. "They are hidden within a black pearl that was buried, I know not how, in InuYasha's right eye when he was an infant."

"What favour are you hoping for as thanks from this Sesshoumaru, _Higurashi Kagome_?" Sesshoumaru asked, his golden eyes narrowed.

"Should any item such as this -" and again Kagome lifted the jewel fragment aloft so that Sesshoumaru might be able to see it, "- cross your path or come to be in your possession, you would keep it until _our_ paths might cross again, and return it then to me."

"You _dare_ -?!" the toad demon started to screech.

"Agreed," Sesshoumaru said, cutting his vassal off before he could begin. "This Sesshoumaru will _not_ seek these fragments, but should any come to be in my possession, I shall keep them for you, as you have assisted in guiding me to _my_ birthright. This Sesshoumaru sees it as a fair exchange. Jaken, it seems you must fetch my errant brother back to me."

~oOo~

Myoga had, somehow, returned with another shard of the jewel just before Jaken had returned with InuYasha and the... faceless demoness that had InuYasha half-way sucked into her body.

"That's... mildly disturbing to see," Kagome said, as she couldn't help but stare at the absorbing taking place not ten feet away from her.

"I require that you release him," Sesshoumaru informed the faceless woman frankly.

"He's _mine_," the faceless woman insisted with a pleading, begging tone.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes dangerously at her. "Do not make this Sesshoumaru _force_ the issue," he warned.

"No soul-sucking 'til I tell you, remember!" Jaken added in a screech.

That featureless visage turned from Jaken to Sesshoumaru, and then down to InuYasha – and she pulled him deeper within herself.

The corner of Sesshoumaru's left eye twitched slightly, and he created a whip of light that rendered the faceless woman into several chunks, leaving InuYasha whole and free of her. Sesshoumaru did not wait for InuYasha to come to his senses before he'd snatched his younger half-brother up by the neck and was pulling the black pearl from InuYasha's eye with some strange magic.

"I should see if I can learn how to do that," Kagome muttered to herself. "That could come in _real_ handy." If she could have done _that_, she wouldn't have had to stand aside while Kaede had taken the jewel from the Centipede's flesh the other day, for one thing.

"It is a simple thing," Myoga supplied from her shoulder – where he'd settled after taking his meal from her for that jewel shard he'd brought (_so fast_!). "I could teach you..." he offered.

Kagome smirked down at the old flea fondly. "Lessons for blood?" she guessed.

"It is truly a _delight_ being in your presence, Lady Kagome," Myoga said with a happy expression.

"And all for something like _that_! You pretended she was my _mother_!" InuYasha screamed. It really _wasn't_ necessary. Sesshoumaru was barely a few feet away.

"Hm," he chortled softly, briefly. "You're not amused?" Sesshoumaru countered, a tiny little smirk on his face. Clearly, _he_ was.

"No, I'm not," InuYasha growled as he finally climbed to his feet again from where he'd been dropped after the pearl was extracted from him. "You bastard!" he yelled, and charged, clawed hands held out in front of him.

Sesshoumaru lazily jumped out of the way and countered the attack by sending his whip of light to force InuYasha back, finally striking him in the chest and sending InuYasha to the ground on his back.

Sesshoumaru landed, summoned Jaken to his side, and then the two of them disappeared into a dark portal conjured through use of the Staff of Two Heads and the black pearl that had been extracted from InuYasha's eye.

"So," Kagome said laconically as she sidled up to InuYasha. "Are you going after him?" she asked.

"The portal!" Myoga said as he leapt from Kagome's shoulder to InuYasha's. "We must move quickly before it's closed! Do you want your brother to take sole possession of your father's treasure?"

"Let 'im," InuYasha answered. "What do I care?" he asked rhetorically.

"But _sire_!" Myoga objected, waving his little arms around.

"I never said I'm not going in there, okay?" InuYasha countered. "Say your prayers, Sesshoumaru," InuYasha growled lowly as he pulled himself to his feet. "You're dead!" Then he turned to Kagome, a scowl on his face. "You stay here!" he ordered. "It's too dangerous for you!" … and then he was off through the portal.

"Oh, if _only_ because he _ordered_ me to stay, I'm going," Kagome grumbled, checked her bow and arrows, as well as the odufas in her pocked (though by now she was fairly sure she wasn't going to need them), and marched up to – and _through_ – the portal.

~oOo~

The free-falling wasn't fun, but then that giant skeletal bird that still had feathers on its wings caught her and it wasn't so bad any more.

"Thanks for the save," she said to the odd creature. "You'll take me to the remains, please?" she asked.

The creature nodded and sailed easily into the massive jaws of what was left of the great and terrible father of Sesshoumaru and InuYasha.

"Thanks," Kagome said. "You can set me down here, I think," she told it once they'd gone a little way down the throat. "I'll manage the rest of the way _in_ on my own. I'll probably need help getting _out_ again though," she added as the creature landed and let her climb off.

It... _chirped_, nodded, and turned around before spreading its wings again.

Kagome shrugged to herself and set herself to walking in the direction she could hear yelling and crashing coming from – InuYasha had _clearly_ caught up with Sesshoumaru again.

She arrived in time to see InuYasha try – and fail – to draw the sword that _Sesshoumaru_ had come seeking.

"Are you done?" Sesshoumaru asked, eyes narrowed. "I am."

And then the fighting started all over again. Kagome climbed slowly down, enjoying the view – because, really, Sesshoumaru was _gorgeous_, and a girl would have to be _blind_ to not see it. Heck, even a blind girl probably could. A little one-track-minded, maybe, but men were never all that great at multitasking, and there _was_ that expression about a dog with a bone...

"Don't worry Milord," Jaken said with a nasty chuckle as he eyed where InuYasha had fallen after Sesshoumaru's last strike. "It's all taken care of."

"No," Kagome said firmly, very deliberately landing on Jaken when she jumped that last little way down, though she stepped off him again quickly enough. "This is between _them_. It's a _family_ matter now."

"Lady Kagome!" Myoga cried, leaping away from InuYasha's shoulder to take residence on hers once more. "What are you doing here?"

"I got _ordered_ by someone who _isn't_ the boss of me to stay put. Of _course_ I was going to come," Kagome answered.

"You _disrespectful human_!" Jaken screeched when he regained his feet. He swung his staff at her too, and caught her in the side. For such a tiny thing, he really was _quite_ strong, and Kagome went sailing through the air.

Something touched her palm as she went and her hand instinctively wrapped around it, hoping to catch herself rather than land badly on her back, shoulders, neck, or head. It allowed her to twist around for a _slightly_ better landing, but whatever it was had simply come along with her rather than acting as an anchor.

Jaken squawked in shock.

Kagome looked up to see what, exactly, she'd grabbed onto. It was the sword.

"Don't look at her, look at _me_!" InuYasha growled, and Kagome turned from staring in shock at the sword she'd grabbed -

To find Sesshoumaru inches away from her.

"What _are_ you, and how did _you_ draw the sword?" he asked. His eyes narrowed as he glanced from the sword and back to her, then he leant in and breathed deeply. "Interesting," he mused when he drew back. "It seems that I made a mistake in my assumptions earlier, but you _were_ down-wind."

"Uh..." Kagome hesitated as she fought down a blush that wanted to rise due to the proximity and actions of the attractive, dangerous male in front of her. "What?"

"You do not carry the stench of a mortal human," Sesshoumaru stated softly. "The constant decay of a being who, every moment of their life, is dying."

"Sesshoumaru! Leave her alone! She's not _involved_ in this!" InuYasha yelled from the other side of the cavernous space as he pulled himself to his feet again.

Kagome groaned softly and brought the hand _not_ holding the sword up to rub her eyes and lightly pinch the bridge of her nose. "Sit boy," she muttered, and beyond Sesshoumaru was the echoing, crashing thump of InuYasha being forced down, face-first, into the mess of bones that made up the uneven floor. "I'd have agreed half a minute ago, but when the sword miraculously came loose for _me_, I'd say that changed. Seriously, how old is he? Five? _My_ little brother isn't that stupid, and he's only _ten_."

Sesshoumaru huffed out a soft chuckle, amused. "Your patience with this _creature_ is astonishing to me," he said, though his tone was anything _but_ astonished.

"Was that addressed to _me_, or _him_?" Kagome asked with an arched eyebrow. "Ugh, you know what? Never mind. You couldn't pull the sword free, InuYasha couldn't pull the sword free, and I only came along because I wasn't about to let InuYasha get in the habit of bossing me around and expecting me to just blindly follow his orders. I _didn't_ come for this thing," she said, even as she tapped the back edge of the sword on her shoulder. "I'm getting _out_ of here. I've got my _own_ treasure-hunting to do," Kagome finished, disgustedly, and shoved the sword through the fabric at the waist of her skirt. It would ruin the skirt, but she'd already decided she needed to invest in trousers.

She'd get a belt she could slide the sword through while she was at it, since it seemed to be _hers_ now. Damned if she knew what she'd actually _do_ with it though.

"Come find me when you're finished here," she offered to Sesshoumaru over her shoulder as she moved to start climbing out again. "I should still be at the village of Edo. Myoga?"

"Coming Lady Kagome!"

~oOo~

"Lady Kagome!" echoed through the village and surrounding farms when Kagome exited the portal and set down again on the solid ground beside her bicycle.

"Stop yelling!" Kagome called back as she righted her bike and walked with it back towards the village. "I'm right here!"

"Lady Kagome!" the villagers all exclaimed with relief when she came into sight.

"So, tell me about this sword," Kagome said to Myoga once they were settled again in Kaede's hut, Kagome and Kaede both with cups of tea in hand, while Myoga had a nut-cap that Kagome had carefully bled into to drink from. "Because I have to say, it doesn't _look_ like much."

"My Lord had it forged by Totosai, the demon sword-smith, from one of his own fangs. Its purpose was to protect his human mistress, the Lady Izayoi, Master InuYasha's mother," Myoga began. "It has been many years since I witnessed the powers of the Tetsaiga, and my memory is not what it used to be. You are best to speak to Totosai for _all_ the details of the sword and its powers. It, uh," Myoga hesitated, and coughed nervously. "I do remember that it was _also_ created to keep Master InuYasha's demon heritage in check, as he would have _no_ control should it rise up and overcome his human heritage completely, and would doubtless cause _much_ damage to any and all around him, should such happen."

"You're saying that he'd be essentially no better than a rabid dog," Kagome stated flatly, then sighed a little despondently. "Well, that's a shame."  
"Lady Kagome?" Myoga queried.

"Look, I don't know if Lord Sesshoumaru is even going to let InuYasha leave their father's grave _alive_, but I _do_ know that InuYasha isn't responsible enough to be trusted with any kind of sword," Kagome answered. "Where do I find this Totosai?" she asked.

"Ye do not mean to set out tonight, do ye child?" Kaede asked, paling a little under her wrinkles at the idea.

"Of course not," Kagome answered, waving off the old woman's worries. "It's late. I plan to sleep _deeply_ tonight and set out some time tomorrow morning, unless it's a _long_ way off?" Kagome said, directing the last to Myoga.

"Several days journey," Myoga supplied.

"Then probably not tomorrow _either_," Kagome decided. "I have to go back to my own time tomorrow evening so that I'll be on time for school the next morning. The bike will help me cover ground in my search, but I _do_ have other things I have to do at the same time. Ugh," Kagome grumbled tiredly as she felt the weight of keeping up responsibilities weigh down on her.

Was she _ever_ going to get to have a normal life? Then again, with attractive creatures like Sesshoumaru wandering around, did she _really_ want one?

~The End~


End file.
